Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5md
Earthquake near Palermo, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Palermo in the 24 hours to 8:36 am PST (16:36 UTC). The last one was M 5.6, 146 km (90 mi) W, at 8:10 am PDT on 24 June 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 5,311 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Palermo
This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 4 km (3 mi) southeast of Palermo, CA, at 2:19 pm PST on 29 December 2018 (22:19 UTC), 3.7 km deep.
USGS: 4km SE of Palermo, CA
93 km (58 mi) N of Sacramento, CA · 33 km (20 mi) NNE of Yuba City, CA
- When
- 2:19 pm PST on 29 December 2018 ()
- Where
- 4 km (3 mi) southeast of Palermo, CA · earthquakes near Palermo
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (md)
- Depth
- 3.7 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Yuba County, 21 km SE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Foothills fault system, 7 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2780 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Palermo, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Palermo, CA. No account or email needed.
Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 10 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Palermo, 4 km away, the estimate is intensity II (weak). Estimated from magnitude, depth and distance with the intensity equation USGS Did You Feel It? uses; felt reports, where there are any, are the measurement.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: South Oroville, Oroville East, Loma Rica, Oroville, Thermalito, Gridley.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 6.2 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,500,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,700,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 150× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.5 about 6.2 lb of TNT
Energy from the Gutenberg–Richter relation (log10E = 1.5M + 4.8), rounded to two figures; bar length is magnitude, which is already a logarithm of energy. Magnitudes of past earthquakes from the USGS catalogue.
For this area
No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 4 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.9 West of Downieville, California · 45 km ENE of this epicentre
- 5.7 The 1975 Oroville, California Earthquake · 4 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.2 4 km E of Palermo, California · 4 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.1 5 km ENE of Palermo, California · 5 km NNE of this epicentre
Since 2016: the QuakeIndex catalogue (US, M1.5+), built from the USGS FDSN event service. Before 2016: USGS ComCat, M5+ from 1900. Distances are between epicentres. This is the record, not a forecast.
Where
Epicentre 39.4045, -121.5078. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yuba County, CA | 21 km (13 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Yuba County |
| Butte County, CA | 30 km (19 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Butte County |
| Sutter County, CA | 44 km (28 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Sutter County |
| Nevada County, CA | 64 km (40 mi) | E | earthquakes near Nevada County |
| Colusa County, CA | 68 km (42 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Colusa County |
| Placer County, CA | 78 km (48 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Placer County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
43 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.6 13km WSW of Durham, CA
- 1.9 10km ENE of Loma Rica, CA
- 1.6 17km WSW of Durham, CA
- 1.7 10km N of Thermalito, CA
- 1.8 1km NNE of Chico, CA
- 2.1 8km W of La Porte, CA
- 1.9 10km NNW of Oroville, CA
- 1.8 14km N of Colusa, CA
- 2.5 15km ENE of Willows, CA
- 2.2 16km N of Colusa, CA
- 2.5 4km SE of Concow, CA
- 1.9 10km N of Oroville, CA
- 1.9 10km SSE of Hamilton City, CA
- 3.0 1km NNW of Chico, CA
- 1.9 4km ENE of Palermo, CA
Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of . QuakeIndex does not forecast aftershocks. When USGS issues an operational aftershock forecast it appears on the USGS event page.
On USGS
- The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
- Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
- ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one
QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.